Brown is the only school in this list requiring the SAT or ACT for 2026-27 (reinstated beginning with the Class of 2029); URI, RISD, Providence College, Bryant, Roger Williams, Salve Regina, and Johnson & Wales are all test-optional, and Rhode Island College's own Common Data Set left its test-policy checkboxes blank even though its admissions page separately describes itself as test-optional. Published score ranges describe a cohort; they are not admission cutoffs.
The table covers 9 colleges Rhode Island families apply to most, from the most selective to the large public universities. Read each cohort note before comparing numbers. The bottom rows show the score-based money Rhode Island families can earn: URI Thomas M. Ryan / Verrecchia Business / Cook-Cohen Scholars and Providence College Academic Tuition Scholarships.
| School | SAT profile / cohort | ACT | Acceptance rate | Testing, fall 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown University | 1470-1550 · enrolled, fall 2025 (Class of 2029; 77% of enrollees submitted) | 33-35 | 6.3% · fall 2025 | Required for 2026-27 |
| Rhode Island School of Design | Not published (section scores only: EBRW 688-750, Math 708-780) · enrolled, fall 2024 (15% of enrollees submitted) | 31-34 | 19% · fall 2024 | Test-optional for 2026-27 |
| University of Rhode Island | 1020-1260 · enrolled, fall 2024 (only 27.4% of the class submitted a score) | Not reported (official Common Data Set left ACT percentile fields blank) | 72.2% · fall 2024 | Test-optional for 2026-27 |
| Providence College | Not published (section scores only: EBRW 630-700, Math 620-690) · enrolled, fall 2024 (19% of enrollees submitted) | 29-32 | 49.9% · fall 2025 (Class of 2029) | Test-optional for 2026-27 |
| Bryant University | Not published | Not published (official average reported: 27, not a range) | 61% · fall 2026 (Class of 2030) | Test-optional for 2026-27 |
| Roger Williams University | Not published (section scores only: EBRW 580-660, Math 560-650) · enrolled, fall 2024 (21% of enrollees submitted) | 24-29 | 88.0% · fall 2024 | Test-optional for 2026-27 |
| Salve Regina University | Not published (section scores only: EBRW 600-680, Math 560-650) · enrolled, fall 2024 (16% of enrollees submitted) | 26-29 | 68.0% · fall 2024 | Test-optional for 2026-27 |
| Johnson & Wales University-Providence | Not published (section scores only: EBRW 460-590, Math 430-570) · enrolled, fall 2024 (14% of enrollees submitted) | 22-27 | 88.0% · fall 2024 | Test-optional for 2026-27 |
| Rhode Island College | Not published | Not published | 85.6% · fall 2025 | See school |
| URI Thomas M. Ryan / Verrecchia Business / Cook-Cohen Scholars | No SAT cutoff, not required or considered | See program rules | Full cost of attendance (tuition, fees, housing, food, books) for 4 years over 4 years | Covers full cost of attendance plus a Global Winter J-Term travel experience; candidates are selected from their application and then invited to a campus interview, with no separate application and no SAT/ACT review |
| Providence College Academic Tuition Scholarships | No SAT cutoff, not required or considered | See program rules | ~$100,000 (approx. $25,000/year) over 4 years | Averages about $25,000 per year for roughly the top 30% of admitted students, typically those close to a 3.8 unweighted/recalculated high school GPA; renewable 4 years with GPA and academic-progress requirements, no separate application |
Cohort notes: Brown: Brown reinstated the SAT/ACT requirement beginning with the Class of 2029 (fall 2025 entry) after a four-year test-optional period, and the requirement continues for 2026-27 applicants; it is the only Rhode Island school in this list that requires testing. RISD: RISD is test-optional and accepts applicants via the Common Application plus a required portfolio; its admissions page does not publish an SAT composite, only an ACT composite range. URI: URI is Rhode Island's public land- and sea-grant flagship; its merit scholarships (Presidential, University, and the full-ride Top Scholar programs) do not consider SAT or ACT scores at all. Providence College: A Catholic Dominican college; 77.6% of its Class of 2029 enrolled without submitting a test score, and its Academic Tuition Scholarships are awarded on GPA alone, with no SAT/ACT review. Bryant: A business-focused university in Smithfield; Bryant explicitly notes on its own admitted-class page that submitting standardized test scores is optional, and it reports only class averages, not a percentile range. Roger Williams: Based in Bristol on Mt. Hope Bay; known for architecture and marine affairs programs, and test-optional for all applicants. Salve Regina: A Catholic university on Newport's Ochre Point Avenue, occupying several Gilded Age mansions; test-optional, with only 18% of its fall 2024 class submitting any test score. Johnson & Wales: Career-focused private university known for its College of Food Innovation & Technology and College of Hospitality Management; test-optional, with only 16% of its fall 2024 class submitting a score. Rhode Island College: Rhode Island's public liberal-arts and teacher-education college in Providence; its own admissions page says it is test-optional, but its official Common Data Set filing did not populate the test-score tables, so no numeric range is marked here rather than invented. These are not interchangeable measures.
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Find my teen's target scoreBrown reports a 1470 to 1550 middle 50% SAT (enrolled, fall 2025 (Class of 2029; 77% of enrollees submitted)). It admitted 6.3% of 42,774 applicants (fall 2025). The matching ACT range is 33-35. Testing for fall 2027: Required for 2026-27. Brown reinstated the SAT/ACT requirement beginning with the Class of 2029 (fall 2025 entry) after a four-year test-optional period, and the requirement continues for 2026-27 applicants; it is the only Rhode Island school in this list that requires testing.
RISD does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 19% of 6,692 applicants (fall 2024). The matching ACT range is 31-34. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for 2026-27. RISD is test-optional and accepts applicants via the Common Application plus a required portfolio; its admissions page does not publish an SAT composite, only an ACT composite range.
URI reports a 1020 to 1260 middle 50% SAT (enrolled, fall 2024 (only 27.4% of the class submitted a score)). It admitted 72.2% of 26,987 applicants (fall 2024). Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for 2026-27. URI is Rhode Island's public land- and sea-grant flagship; its merit scholarships (Presidential, University, and the full-ride Top Scholar programs) do not consider SAT or ACT scores at all.
Providence College does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 49.9% of 13,200+ applicants (fall 2025 (Class of 2029)). The matching ACT range is 29-32. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for 2026-27. A Catholic Dominican college; 77.6% of its Class of 2029 enrolled without submitting a test score, and its Academic Tuition Scholarships are awarded on GPA alone, with no SAT/ACT review.
Bryant does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 61% of 10,200 applicants (fall 2026 (Class of 2030)). The matching ACT range is Not published (official average reported: 27, not a range). Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for 2026-27. A business-focused university in Smithfield; Bryant explicitly notes on its own admitted-class page that submitting standardized test scores is optional, and it reports only class averages, not a percentile range.
Roger Williams does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 88.0% of 8,029 applicants (fall 2024). The matching ACT range is 24-29. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for 2026-27. Based in Bristol on Mt. Hope Bay; known for architecture and marine affairs programs, and test-optional for all applicants.
Salve Regina does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 68.0% of 6,202 applicants (fall 2024). The matching ACT range is 26-29. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for 2026-27. A Catholic university on Newport's Ochre Point Avenue, occupying several Gilded Age mansions; test-optional, with only 18% of its fall 2024 class submitting any test score.
Johnson & Wales does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 88.0% of 7,828 applicants (fall 2024). The matching ACT range is 22-27. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for 2026-27. Career-focused private university known for its College of Food Innovation & Technology and College of Hospitality Management; test-optional, with only 16% of its fall 2024 class submitting a score.
Rhode Island College does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 85.6% of 5,682 applicants (fall 2025). Rhode Island's public liberal-arts and teacher-education college in Providence; its own admissions page says it is test-optional, but its official Common Data Set filing did not populate the test-score tables, so no numeric range is marked here rather than invented.
Rhode Island has no statewide scholarship with an SAT cutoff; the best-known score-tied money in the state is competitive rather than formula-based, and neither major program reviews a standardized test score at all: URI's full-ride Ryan/Verrecchia/Cook-Cohen Scholars programs and Providence College's GPA-based Academic Tuition Scholarships are both awarded on a student's academic record and, for URI's top tier, an interview.
URI Thomas M. Ryan / Verrecchia Business / Cook-Cohen Scholars: No SAT cutoff, not required or considered. Covers full cost of attendance plus a Global Winter J-Term travel experience; candidates are selected from their application and then invited to a campus interview, with no separate application and no SAT/ACT review.
Providence College Academic Tuition Scholarships: No SAT cutoff, not required or considered. Averages about $25,000 per year for roughly the top 30% of admitted students, typically those close to a 3.8 unweighted/recalculated high school GPA; renewable 4 years with GPA and academic-progress requirements, no separate application.
Neither program publishes an SAT/ACT cutoff because neither considers test scores in its merit review. URI's Presidential and University Scholarships (the non-Top-Scholar tier) range $2,000 to full tuition per year, require a 2.8 college GPA to renew, and are also GPA- and record-based, not SAT-tiered. PC's scholarship requires close to a 3.8 GPA as a competitive baseline, not a guarantee.
RISD, URI, Providence College and Bryant are test optional for fall 2027, so many families assume the score is irrelevant. The ranges above come from the students who chose to send one, and they sit well above the overall class. Brown still require a score. A strong score is one more reason for a school to say yes, and a weak one can simply stay home.
Rhode Island has no statewide scholarship with an SAT cutoff. The state's best-known score-tied money is competitive, not formula-based, and neither reviews a test score at all: URI's full-ride Ryan, Verrecchia, and Cook-Cohen Scholars programs are awarded on a student's full record plus an interview, and Providence College's Academic Tuition Scholarships (about $25,000 a year) go to roughly the top 30% of admits based on GPA alone.
No. The University of Rhode Island is test-optional for 2026-27. Among the roughly 27% of URI's fall 2024 enrolled class who chose to submit a score, the middle-50% SAT Composite range was 1020 to 1260, with a median of 1170.
Yes. Rhode Island administers the SAT free to all public-school 11th graders during the school day statewide (10th graders take the PSAT 10), run through the RI Department of Education's state assessment program; homeschooled Rhode Island students can also take it at no cost.
Brown is Rhode Island's most selective school and the only one on this list requiring the SAT or ACT for 2026-27. Students who enrolled in the Class of 2029 scored a middle-50% SAT Composite of 1470 to 1550 and ACT Composite of 33 to 35, and Brown admitted just 6.3% of its 42,774 applicants.
Every other school covered here, from public URI and Rhode Island College to private schools like Providence College, Bryant, Roger Williams, Salve Regina, Johnson & Wales, and RISD, is test-optional, and at several of them fewer than 1 in 5 enrolled students chose to submit a score at all.
No. A middle 50% describes the central half of the reported group, not an admission cutoff. Some rows describe enrolled students or score submitters only, as labeled. A position within a range does not guarantee admission or merit aid.
University and state sources: Brown, RISD, URI, Providence College, Bryant, Roger Williams, Salve Regina, Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island College, URI Thomas M. Ryan / Verrecchia Business / Cook-Cohen Scholars, Providence College Academic Tuition Scholarships. Reviewed October 9, 2026. Cohorts and entry terms differ; confirm current requirements with each admissions office.
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